True identity
by tvfan69
Summary: What if there was something hidden within Terra's lost memories, something with the power to make the Titans question everything they thought they knew? Should such information be kept a secret? A lot can change over time, there's no doubt about that. But even so everyone still can't understand one thing, what could've happened to Robin?
1. Chapter 1

Avani Rogers was your average fifteen year old high school sophomore, or at least she thought she was. She considered her life to be pretty normal, she went to school and got good grades, she lived with her dad and stepmom and she babysat for her neighbor's five year old daughter on Friday nights. But then one day she met someone, someone who told her that everything she knew was a lie. He told her that she used to be somebody else, that she had powers which she couldn't even imagine.

That someone was Beast Boy of the Teen Titans.

At first she had pitied him, he had obviously lost someone close to him and she reminded him of the person. So she had let him drag her around the city and back to Titans tower but she wasn't Terra, whoever Terra was. She wasn't the girl Beast Boy missed so much and after nearly two days she had managed to convince him of that. But there was one thing about Beast Boy's whole story that was unsettling to her, one thing that had been eating away at her ever since he first asked why she couldn't remember.

She only remembered high school.

She had no memory prior to her first day as a freshman and no matter how many times she stared at the photo albums underneath the coffee table in the living room at home she couldn't remember anything about her life before high school.

The curiosity had been pestering her mind for weeks now and finally she decided that it was time she do something about it.

She had thought of talking to her friends but quickly pushed that thought aside, they hadn't seemed too thrilled about her hanging out with Beast Boy in the first place. What she needed was someone who could tell her for sure if her life was truly a lie or not, someone who could actually determine who she really was.

Only one person came to mind but Avani knew it was a risk.

* * *

><p>"Mail call!" Cyborgs loud voice echoed throughout the tower as he walked into the common room with the days mail.<p>

It was a typical afternoon for the titans. Starfire was sitting on the couch, intently watching her favorite show 'World of Fungus', Robin was sitting with his arm around her, though he seemed to have very little interest in the show. Raven was sitting on the end of the couch with her nose in a book and Beast Boy was in the kitchen whipping up his latest tofu based creation.

"Sweet! My National Geographic!" Beast Boy exclaimed as he took his magazine from the pile in Cyborg's hands.

Robin got up from his seat but neither Starfire or Raven did the same.

"Friend Cyborg would you mind just leaving my mail on the counter please? I will take it after World of Fungus has ended" Starfire asked since she didn't want to miss a second of her show but as he sat back down with his own mail Robin placed his girlfriend's magazine on the coffee table in front of her.

"Oh thank you Robin" Star said gratefully, taking her attention off of her show just long enough to say her thanks.

"Yo Raven there's a letter here for you" Cyborg called.

Raven cocked an eyebrow as she closed her book. She never got mail. She didn't subscribe to any magazines and she had no family to send her anything, unless her mother had somehow figured out how to mail something from Azarath. Standing up and placing her book down in her seat Raven went over to the counter and picked up the letter. She didn't recognize the return address on the envelope but it was located here in Jump and the writing was hand written, it was something personal.

"Whose it from?" Beast Boy asked as he began to peer over his teammate's shoulder.

"I don't know" Raven replied, she then walked back over to the couch, picked up her book, and left the common room.

* * *

><p>Once Raven was alone in the confines of her room she placed her book on top of her bed before sitting on the mattress herself. She closely examined the envelope in her hand, the writing was relatively messy and was done in pencil, like the sender had been rushing to address it. She knew it could be a trap, it wouldn't be the first time a villain had sent their evil plan through the mail. But despite that possibility Raven opened the letter.<p>

_Dear Raven,_

_I'd like to start this by explaining who i am but i can't because that's what i need your help with. My friends call me Ava, i'm the girl Beast Boy mistook for your friend Terra a few weeks ago. The reason i'm writing you is because i told Beast Boy that i'm not the girl he remembers but ever since he talked to me i've realized that i don't remember anything about my life before starting high school. I've heard that it's possible for a person to suppress unwanted memories and whether i am your friend Terra or not i know that is what's happening to me. I've heard that you know a lot about the mind and i don't know if you can help me remember or if you even want to but i don't know where else i can turn. My parents keep insisting that what i see in our family photos are the truth but i just can't remember and to me some of the pictures almost look like they were faked. I know this sounds crazy but i need to know the truth, please meet me in the library, Friday at three, please._

_~Ava_

_P.S. Please don't tell anyone about this, especially Beast Boy. I don't want to get anybody's hopes up._

For a minute Raven just stared at the letter. If it was Terra then clearly she really doesn't remember because she was certain that no matter how desperate Terra would never go to her for help.

* * *

><p>When Friday came around Ava went straight to the library after school. She decided to sit at a table in the teen section, it was hidden in the back of the library and not visible from the front entrance but once you made it past the first row of book shelves the front three tables became visible and Ava and opted for the second one. She sat there reading a book, or pretending to read a book, she actually just picked up the first book she saw and stared at the first page, turning it whenever she began to feel she had been on the page for too long. Every time someone walked by, Ava looked up, and after about twenty minutes the purple haired titan appeared in the entrance to the section.<p>

"You came" Ava said in surprise, she hadn't really been expecting Raven to show up

"I came to warn you" Raven said as she took the seat across from Ava.

"Warn me about what?" Ava asked confused

"About what you're doing. If your mind truly has blocked out all memories of your past then whatever happened to you was traumatizing, it's not something you want to unlock" Raven explained. She had to admit that Ava really was the spitting image of Terra, right down to the overuse of mascara.

"Nothing could be worse than what Beast Boy told me and if it's that then i already know" Ava argued.

"You may know the facts but you don't remember. Your memories are where your emotions lay and having all that wash back over you can be more than you can handle" the empath advised. She could understand Ava wanting to remember her past, but in her opinion at least, the price is too high.

Ava sighed, she knew that Raven was right. A part of her wanted to unlock these memories to prove that she isn't Terra, to escape the guilt that she could've done these terrible things. But what if she was Terra?

The guilt would be unbearable.

"Regardless of what your past is it's in the past, whatever happened to you before it's over and you're safe now. You have a chance to start over Ava, take it." Raven advised and it almost looked as if Ava was going to listen to her, almost.

"How do you know i'm safe?" Ava finally asked but Raven only raised an eyebrow.

"My memories, my past, it's all gone." Ava said as she dug through her school bag for something.

"This is a picture of my parents, if i really am Terra then i don't think Slade would stop watching me based on what Beast Boy said. Do you think they could be working for him?" Ava asked, handing Raven a slightly bent photograph.

Raven took the picture and her eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets, it couldn't be. The man in the picture was smiling with a ridiculous looking grin while the woman seemed rather annoyed with him. It was hard to tell where they were exactly, it looked to be some type of formal party based on their clothes but the lighting in the picture was obscuring the background, regardless Raven recognized the people, Madame Rouge and Dr. Light.

Raven took a breath to calm herself as she handed Ava back the picture, Ava could tell that something was wrong.

"Ok maybe you are Terra, even if you're not you are still in danger. These people, they aren't who you think they are" Raven explained

"Then who are they?" Ava questioned but Raven looked around the library as if to make sure that they weren't being watched.

"Are you sure you want your memories back?" She asked, almost in a whisper of a voice.

Ava nodded and when the empath stood from the table Ava mimicked her action.

"Take my hand" Raven instructed, Ava looked at her skeptically for a moment but did as she instructed and with that Raven teleported them out of the library.

* * *

><p>"Whoa" Ava said when the two landed in a dark and almost depressing looking room.<p>

"Where are we, and why is everything in here so creepy?" Ava questioned as she looked around and noticed the queen sized bed across from where they were standing, she didn't have time to take back her comment before Raven answered her question.

"We're in my bedroom" Raven answered dryly, despite having figured that out for herself a millisecond before Ava's face still turned a bright pink color.

"Oh, sorry i didn't mean-" she began but was cut off.

"It's fine, i hear it enough anyway" Raven mumbled the last part but Ava still caught it, however she decided not to comment on it.

"So how does coming to your room help me remember? Beast Boy already tried familiar places" Ava questioned as Raven grabbed a pillow from her bed and placed it on the floor.

"If Slade really is watching you then we needed to come somewhere he couldn't have spies, plus you wanted this to be kept a secret and nobody ever comes into my room" Raven explained, Ava smiled upon hearing that Raven had respected her wishes to keep this between them.

"Sit" The empath instructed, pointing to the pillow on the floor.

Ava did as Raven asked and sat criss-cross on the pillow

"Before we do this you need to promise that you'll tell me everything you remember. No more secrets, no more lies, you tell me exactly what you remember" Raven said, her monotoned voice taking on just a hint of anger.

She knew Terra had reverted back to good before turning to stone but even before working for Slade she had kept secrets. Raven had never particularly enjoyed talking about her own past so she had respected Terra's wishes for the same privacy but things have changed, she wouldn't be tricked again.

Ava nodded but said nothing, Raven went and stood behind her. The process of using her powers to uncover lost memories was a tricky one but it was possible. Raven placed a hand on each side of Ava's head, just behind her temples. The key was using jet the right amount of healing magic and regular magic and soon Raven felt what was the equivalent of an electric shock in her hands, and Ava leaned over so fast that her head nearly smacked the ground.

"I remember" Ava said through her gasps for breath, she felt like the wind had been knocked out of her.

"What do you remember?" Raven asked, Ava remained on her hands and knees, staring at the floor while she processed everything racing through her mind, seemingly at a million miles per hour.

"My name is Terra" she said and despite having been halfway convinced already that Ava was truly Terra, it still sent a shock through Raven.

Terra took a breath both to calm her racing mind and to control her once again active powers, then she remembered her promise to Raven.

"My name is Terra Markov. I was nine years old when i was kidnapped and experimented on, three months later i escaped. A week later i was found but less than an hour later i almost killed my own parents. I ran away and eventually was found and put into a foster home for kids with special needs, i ran away on my first night after i accidentally hurt one of the other kids. I spent the next couple years in and out of foster care until i was fourteen and found you guys. Beast Boy found out i couldn't completely control my powers and i made him swear not to tell, we fought Slade in the mines where he said he could help me and after Robin found out i couldn't control my powers i ran away from here and four months later accepted Slade's offer to help me in exchange for working for him. I lost myself during that time, i betrayed you guys and to make it right i brought down Slade's hideout and turned myself to stone in the process, when i woke up i had no memory of who i was or what had happened to me. I was still underground in the rubble of the hideout and i passed out, when i woke up again i was in the back seat of a car and thought my name was Ava Rogers" Terra ranted, pausing to catch her breath.

Raven was taken back by all of this, she hadn't expected Terra to tell her about anything before they met. She was about to say something but Terra beat her to it.

"There's one more thing" she said, almost in a warning tone.

"What?" Raven inquired and for the first time, Terra looked up.

She didn't turn to face Raven, instead she stared straight ahead at the door as her eyes narrowed in a mix of anger and pain.

"I know who Slade is" she confessed, her voice almost deadly.


	2. Chapter 2

At first Raven just stared quizzically at Terra.

What does she mean she knows who Slade is?

Obviously Raven knew what she meant but she just couldn't believe it, Terra may have been Slade's apprentice but even so he would never have told her his secret identity.

It was then that Terra began to get a grip. Her tense shoulders relaxed and her breathing regulated as her thoughts began to slow down. She had recalled the bad memories first, fallowed by whatever good ones she had and now everything in her mind was settling down and slowly sorting itself back into a chronological order. Letting out one final gasp Terra crawled around in a semi circle so she could face Raven. Only when she realized that she was looking up at the empath more than usual did she remember that she was still on her hands and knees and stood up.

"We should get the others" Raven stated simply and began to leave the room but she was halted by Terra's voice.

"Wait!" Terra said quickly and when Raven turned back Terra stared almost in guilt at the ground.

"You can't tell Robin" The blond girl said softly but Raven only arched an eyebrow.

"Slade is our greatest enemy. If you know his identity then we have to tell Robin" she said but Terra wouldn't give in.

"You don't understand. If Robin finds out i remember then so will Slade" Terra tried to explain

"You don't know that" Raven assured, thinking that Terra was just being paranoid.

But Terra shook her head.

"Yes i do. I know it sounds crazy but Slade isn't from here. He's from some time in the future, i don't know why he came back but he did. Slade… is Robin" she confessed sounding almost like she didn't believe it herself.

Raven's eyes went wide and she took half a step backwards. At first she didn't believe it, remembering the battle with Warp she knew that time travel was possible but this? Slade actually being Robin from the future? Raven didn't want to believe it and yet the more she thought about it, the more sense it made.

Slade is cunning, meticulous, driven. All skills which Robin possesses that will undoubtably only get sharper with time. Not to mention his fighting skills and now that Raven put thought into it, Slade fights with the same weapon as Robin.

"We can tell the others, but not Robin" Terra instructed, interrupting Ravens thoughts.

Raven nodded

"Stay here" she ordered Terra and with that she disappeared from her room.

* * *

><p>As if Beast Boy wasn't confused enough when Raven came into the common room and asked him, Starfire and Cyborg to fallow her to her room, who he saw in there waiting for them was an even bigger shock.<p>

"Terra! Oh, uh i mean, um" the green teenager stuttered, trying to apologize for calling the girl by the name she insisted she has no memory of having.

"Terra" the blond girl confirmed with a small smile, Beast Boy's face lit up so brightly that for a moment it actually looked as if his skin was glowing.

"You remember!" The shape shifter exclaimed as he wrapped his old friend in a tight hug, he only grew happier when she hugged him back.

"I don't know how i forgot" she said quietly right before both she and Beast Boy were enveloped in one of Starfire's famous, crushing hugs.

"Oh this news is most wonderful! We had been fearful that your memory of the past was lost forever!" The alien girl exclaimed

"Well i defiantly remember how i got half my bruises" Terra said through her struggles for air.

Even with Starfire making it difficult to breath, Terra couldn't help but smile. Never in a million years could she have believed that she would be forgiven for what she did, and yet here she was, wrapped in the arms of two of her best friends, and they were actually happy to see her.

While the three of them were greeting each other Cyborg turned his attention to Raven.

"Should we be worried?" He questioned his friend who really was more of a sister to him.

"I don't know" she answered. Yes she knew Cyborg meant about Terra but Raven's mind was on the fate of another titan, Robin.

Stepping forward Raven cleared her throat

"I hate to break up the reunion but we have a problem which needs to be dealt with" her monotone voice seemed to bring the excitement in the room down to zero almost instantly.

"I am confused, is this not a happy occasion?" Starfire questioned, having released Terra and Beast Boy from her deadly hug by this point.

"You better sit down Star" Terra advised, she knows how much Starfire cares for Robin and this… this was not going to sit well with her.

Suddenly worried Starfire took a seat on the floor and was shortly fallowed by Beast Boy. Cyborg also crossed his metallic legs and sat down, Raven did the same and finally so Terra. She explained what had happened to her, not wanting to start off with the Slade issue. But eventually she had told the four titans sitting in a circle around her all they needed to know about her false life and so she was brought to the subject of her 'parents' and then to Slade. Once Terra had said what she needed to she looked around at the reactions of the others, Cyborg and Beast Boy seemed rather disturbed by the news while Raven showed no reaction, of course she already knew. Starfire however looked hurt before her eyes narrowed

"Lies" the Tamaranian princess finally said, the anger which coated her voice was a foreign sound to her teammates and they all stared at her in surprise when she spoke.

"Robin could never become so evil!" She nearly shouted

"Star's right, Rob and Slade may have a lot in common but being the same person?" Cyborg questioned Terra.

"How did you figure that out anyway?" Beast Boy asked, trying to be more understanding of what Terra was saying than his teammates, though he still didn't want to believe it.

Terra looked down at the ground

"When Raven restored my memories, everything all came crashing back at once. I realized that when i destroyed the training course Robin said i was still a little rough around the edges, a few hours later in the mine Slade said the exact same thing." She began

"So they used the same metaphor, doesn't mean they're the same person" Cyborg pointed out quickly.

"That's not it" Terra defended almost as quickly

"Slade's hideout, i've seen the room you guys destroyed while fighting him before you met me. All the gears and pumps, it's the inside of a clock. I also saw his security footage of that fight, half his mask was knocked off. I couldn't get a look at his face before he covered it but the hair, it looked the same" Terra continued explaining but Cyborg's anger only seemed to be growing.

"Hair and a weird hideout doesn't prove anything" he stated bitterly

"Perhaps, but Robin once told me that Slade once allowed one of his robots to save his life. Maybe now we know why" Starfire sadly offered

"Not to mention that Slade has had the chance to destroy all five of us but he didn't" Raven put in.

"Because if Robin goes then so does Slade" Beast Boy's angry and ice cold voice said.

Everyone in the room seemed to freeze. Thick tension coated the air as all five teenagers stared absently at the carpet.

"We're not taking out our leader" Cyborg said seriously, finally putting an end to the silence.

"I agree, but what can we do?" Starfire inquired

"We can find proof" Raven answered, everyone one turned to look at her.

"We need to get a DNA sample of Slade's and run it against Robin's. If it does turn out to be a match then we find out why he became what he did. If Slade really is from the future then it's not to late to stop this before any of it happens, we can save Robin" she continued and after another moment of silence Terra stood up.

"I better go, until this is sorted out it'll be best that both Slade and Robin think i'm still clueless" she said as she slung her book bag over her shoulder.

"Wait!" Beast Boy shouted as he frantically searched his pockets before pulling out the spare communicator.

"Take this" he instructed, holding up his hand and offering it to her.

Terra just shook her head and gently pushed Beast Boy's hand down.

"I can't. If anyone finds it Slade will know" she said as Raven stood up

"I'll teleport you home" she offered knowing that Robin was likely to spot Terra trying to sneak out of the tower.

"Thanks" Terra said with a smile and before the others knew it the two girls were gone, leaving them to wonder what the future could possibly have in store.


	3. Chapter 3

When Raven teleported herself back into her room she immediately noticed that Beast Boy hadn't left.

"Can i help you Beast Boy?" She asked wondering why he was still in here since he knows very well that she doesn't like having people in her room.

Beast Boy fidgeted nervously for a minute before opening his mouth

"You, restored her memory?" He finally asked in disbelief

"I warned her first. I warned her that her past was probably something she didn't want to remember but she insisted" Raven explained, thinking Beast Boy was angry with her.

But instead Beast Boy was shocked. Raven had been the last to trust Terra before her betrayal and although she had looked for a way to bring Terra back he thought that bringing her back from becoming a statue would be as far as Raven was willing to go, he never would've thought she would be the one to bring her back into their lives.

"Thanks Rae" Beats Boy said before he left her room, she smiled a small smile as he left but once her door was closed her smile faltered and she sighed.

"What did we just get ourselves into?" She asked herself in a whisper of a voice.

* * *

><p>Back in her bedroom Terra lay flat on her back on her bed. Her hands rested comfortably on her stomach as she sighed heavily and a tear or two escaped her control.<p>

"God i hope i'm wrong" she muttered as she ran her hands over her face.

Despite how concerning the matter of Slade's secret identity was Terra found that she was only able to focus on it for a moment or two. It was ironic really, she spent five years running from her past and when she actually managed to forget it, she begged to have it back. She couldn't believe that her friends truly trusted her again, or that she could honestly say she has friends. Raven of all people had helped her, realizing how the two of them left things Terra really couldn't believe that one.

"Ava, dinner!" A woman's voice, coated in a thick French accent, called from downstairs.

"Coming mom" Terra called back to the woman posing as her step mother. As she stood up she couldn't help but let a snicker escape her control, forget keeping an eye on her, Terra was wondering what Slade could be bribing Madame Rouge and Doctor Light with just to convince them to work together.

* * *

><p>Although he didn't say anything, Robin was becoming a little suspicious that his teammates might be up to something. Raven and Cyborg appeared perfectly normal however Beast Boy sounded nervous every time the leader spoke to him throughout supper and Starfire hadn't shown up to the table at all.<p>

"Has anybody seen Starfire?" Robin finally questioned when it became obvious that the alien girl wasn't going to be joining the rest of the team at the table any time soon.

The other three titans quickly exchanged glances. It was rare that all five titans ate dinner together, unless you counted going for pizza or sitting on the couch and watching TV while simultaneously eating the contents of their own take-out boxes. On the rare occasions that the group did sit at the table and eat an actual meal together Starfire never missed it, she was always eager to spend time with her friends.

"She said she wasn't feeling very good" Raven fibbed and Robin raised an eyebrow, his mask moving with it.

"She seemed fine earlier" he commented, growing even more suspicious.

"Maybe she's got a stomach bug, every time i get one i'm fine one minute and puking my guts out the next" Beast Boy offered, his voice still cracking from his nerves like it had been all night.

The other three stared at Beast Boy with a mix of disgust and slight consideration, but mostly disgust.

"I'll check on her after supper" Raven said, breaking the silence and being the first to stop glaring at Beast Boy.

Robin looked like he was considering checking on Star himself but instead he just nodded and returned to picking at his potatoes.

Mentally Raven sighed in relief, she knew they shouldn't have included Star in the earlier discussion. They should've waited until they had proof to tell Starfire, she had been so upset that nobody had seen her since the 'secret meeting'. She was most likely in her room crying, talking to her stuffed animals about how this just couldn't be true. Reasoning that Terra has lied before and this is just another one of her tricks, suddenly Raven had to stop her eyes from widening.

Could it be another one of Terra's tricks?

It was true that she had forgotten, Raven had felt the enormous block of energy when she used her powers on Terra, and could only assume that the energy had been the mental block. But could Terra have lied from the moment her memory returned?

Raven didn't think so, what could Terra possibly have to gain by lying?

It doesn't matter, tonight the four titans who knew about this were going for proof and then this whole mess would either be over in a matter of seconds, or it was just beginning.

* * *

><p>It was late, well past midnight, when Madame Rouge entered Slade's underground hideout. He had asked her and Dr. Light to report to him regularly on Terra. Typically she had nothing to report and tonight was no different than any other night.<p>

"Madame Rouge" Slade greeted in his usual gentle yet threatening voice, he didn't turn to face his guest.

"The girl has showed no signs that she remembers her past, as usual" the woman bitterly reported.

"You don't sound happy about this" Slade commented

"I am tired of playing mother to that pathetic child and even more tired of working with that idiot Dr. Light" the French woman spat.

"Our deal was a year, two more months and you can fake your death and be on your way with your payment" Slade reminded her, finally turning to face her.

"And what do you plan to do with the girl once she believes Light and I are dead?" Madame Rouge inquired but Slade merely shrugged.

"Once i am sure that her memory will not be returning and the two of you fake your deaths i'll allow the proper procedure from the state of dealing with orphans to be put into to action. I will still be keeping an eye on her of course" Slade assured his informant, secretly however he didn't think allowing Terra to be placed into foster care would be necessary. Rouge may still have every intention of faking her death and walking away but Doctor Light appeared to be growing attached to his 'daughter' and Slade suspected that he just might stick around.

Rouge stared him down for a moment, studying him to be sure he wasn't lying. Normally she was an expert at reading the signs of lying but Slade was a challenge. His mask hid any facial indications unless they came from his eye, which never happened. His posture never wavered either, he was forever confident in his abilities and it made reading him that much harder, Slade was a master of deceit.

* * *

><p>"I do not believe that we should be doing this" Starfire said nervously as she, Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg, all entered the evidence room at one-thirty in the morning.<p>

"Star it's fine. We're all allowed to be in here and we're all allowed to examine evidence, we're not doing anything wrong" Beast Boy rationalized but even he knew that what they were doing would be seen as wrong if they were caught.

"But should we not have told Robin about this? As our leader does he not deserve to know the truth?" Starfire questioned and Raven turned to her.

"What should we have told him? That he might grow up to be one of the worst villains in the world?" The empath demanded and Starfire abruptly stopped talking.

"It's for the best Star. If it turns out we're wrong then we can all forget this like it never happened" Cyborg tried to reassure his friend but she only looked down at her feet.

"What will happen if we are right?" She asked and momentarily the others all froze.

"We take it from there" Cyborg finally answered after a long silence.

Shining the flashlight built into his shoulder around the room, Cyborg quickly located what they had come for, Slade's mask.

He must have a spare, this was the one which had previously been rigged with chemicals to make Robin hallucinate. But it contained much more than the remnants of chemical powder, it contained one of Slade's eyelashes. The eyelash was all that the titans needed, it contained enough genetic information for Cyborg to run a scan against Robin's.

"Alright y'all, moment of truth" the robotic teen stated as he ran the scan.

Everyone held their breath for what seemed like forever, waiting for Cyborg to be finished. After two short minutes, which had felt more like ten long years, the screen on Cyborg's left arm beeped and a bright red word lit up the screen.

**MATCH.**


	4. Chapter 4

For a moment time seemed to stop. It wasn't that the titans were surprised by the DNA match, each had already had one of those gut feelings that it would come up as a match. But the shock was still there, in that one instant any hope that they had was shattered. They didn't know what the future had in store for them but whatever it is, it can't be good.

"N-No" Starfire's tear laced voice broke up the everlasting silence.

She appeared heartbroken and no one could blame her. Robin was their leader, their friend, but to her he was more. He was her boyfriend, it had only been about two weeks since Tokyo but the point still stands. She had had feelings for him long before the two had begun dating and it was clear to everyone that their relationship was more than just a teenage thing that only lasts a few weeks. No they're in love and now it was clear that Robin won't always feel the same way.

"I'm sorry Starfire" Beast Boy said, placing a hand on his friends shoulder.

Poor Starfire, it felt like her entire world was crumbling down around her. She wrapped her arms around herself and faced away from Beast Boy as she tried to hide her tears.

Raven, of course, took notice of this and the gravity of Starfire's feelings hit her like a speeding bullet. She didn't even need her empathetic powers to sense it, to see where it was headed.

Normally when comforting someone, which Raven rarely did, she held back a little. She kept in mind that her friends thought her to be about as emotional as a rock and wasn't sure she wanted to risk changing that opinion. But with this she didn't care, Starfire is her friend and she refused to let her turn away in this situation. Moving to stand in front of Starfire Raven placed her hand on her friends other shoulder, which prompted Beast Boy to let go.

"We will save him Starfire" Raven said and Starfire looked up, tears in her eyes and her lower lip quivering.

Not caring what the others would say to her later Raven pulled Starfire into a hug. Starfire gratefully returned the hug and cried into her friend's shoulder.

The two boys just stood there, unsure of what to do next. Beast Boy turned and looked to Cyborg for a plan, whenever Robin wasn't around he tended to act as their leader. But Cyborg could only look back at Beast Boy with a look that said he didn't know what to do, not yet anyway.

The dark room remained silent, apart from the sounds of Starfire crying, for what seemed like eternity. Finally once Starfire's sobs slowed down and Raven had pulled away from their hug, Cyborg spoke up.

"It's getting late, we better get to bed" he instructed, Raven was the only one who seemed to agree.

"What about Robin?" Beast Boy questioned

"Slade may have traveled through time to get here but time still moves at the same pace. Robin won't grow up overnight, for now we need to rest and figure this out tomorrow" Raven said.

"But should we not tell Robin now? Surely if he knew of this terrible future he would make certain that it does not happen?" Starfire suggested but Raven shook her head.

"We don't know what will turn Robin into Slade, telling him is a risk we can't afford to take. For all we know, it could be what drives him too it" Raven gently explained to her friend who looked as though she didn't quite understand but nodded anyway, trusting that Raven knew what she was talking about.

With that said the four titans left the evidence room and walked off towards their own bedrooms, each doubting that they would actually get back to sleep. Cyborg was the first to break off from the group, fallowed by Starfire.

"Hey, uh, thanks for taking over with Starfire. I thought she wanted to be alone" Beast Boy sheepishly admitted to Raven the moment Starfire had disappeared into her room and it was just Raven and himself.

"She did" Raven said just as they reached her door.

"Wait then… huh?" Beast Boy stuttered confused so Raven sighed and faced him

"She wanted to be left alone, i made sure that she wasn't" Raven explained but Beast Boy still didn't seem to get it.

"Why would you do that?" He asked thinking it a little mean of Raven to deny Starfire the freedom to deal with her feelings alone if she chose to, especially since Raven herself chooses to deal with everything alone.

"Being alone may be what she wanted, but it wasn't what she needed" Raven explained before turning and opening her door.

"What do you mean?" Beast Boy asked, back to being confused.

Since Raven now had her back to him he couldn't see it but her face showed sadness and remorse.

"Never mind" she said then walked into her room and shut the door before Beast Boy could ask another question.

* * *

><p>Terra woke up around nine, like she usually did on Saturdays. But today was no ordinary Saturday, although her so called 'parents' and Slade are still blissfully unaware that she has memory back, she has it back none the less and ordinary no longer existed. She smiled softly in amusement as she quickly dressed in jean shorts and a green t-shirt, as Ava she had always hung around in her pajama's until noon on Saturdays. Then once she did get dressed she would do her chores and play video games or sometimes go hang out with her friends. Now her Saturday was going to consist of, well, who knows what. Meeting with the Titans was one thing but after that she had no idea of what was too come.<p>

Running down stairs Terra found Doctor Light in the kitchen drinking his morning coffee and reading the paper.

"Ava, what are you doing dressed?" He asked as she grabbed an apple from the bowl in the middle of the table.

"I've got to meet Becky at the park to film something for English class, thought i told you" she answered casually, thankful that he didn't seem to pick up that she was lying.

Strangely she almost wished that Doctor Light wasn't lying. Madame Rouge it was almost a relief, Ava and her stepmother hadn't exactly gotten along. But Doctor Light really acted like he cared about her. Maybe it was because Madame Rough posed as a stepmother, while Terra had believed that Doctor Light was her true father, maybe it was all in her head. But she couldn't help but be upset that it was a lie. Ava's father had kissed her goodnight, despite her being a teenager. He had driven her to school on mornings she missed the bus and made her lunch. Every Friday night he would go somewhere, he said he went to play poker with his friends but now Terra wasn't so sure, wherever he went he came home late and every Saturday morning Terra would fine her favorite ice cream in the freezer, where she was sure it was now.

But now that is all over and Ava, like her parents, is nothing more than an act.

"See ya" Terra said to the man pretending to be her father as she bit into her apple and walked out the door.

* * *

><p>"Alright we sent Robin to do the grocery shopping so we've got about an hour" Cyborg explained to Terra as he brought her into the common room of the tower where the others were already sitting on the couch.<p>

"If you had to get rid of him then i guess i know what you found" Terra said as she took a seat between Starfire and Beast Boy

Cyborg nodded

"You were right" he confirmed for her and she looked down into her lap

"I'm sorry" she finally said

"Don't be" Beast Boy's reassuring voice said and Terra looked up to see that he was looking at her with an uncharacteristically serious face.

"It's not your fault and now that we know, maybe we can stop it" he said to her.

She smiled softly and he returned the smile, his fang poking out of the corner of his mouth slightly and this made Terra giggle just a tiny bit, she would always love that smile.

"The question is how do we stop it?" Raven asked, ending the short moment of returned normalcy between her two friends.

There was a moment of silence before Cyborg spoke up and broke it

"I don't know but like i said before, we're not taking out our leader" he stated seriously.

"We don't have too" Terra said causing the others to look at her.

"We just need to figure out what turned Robin into Slade" she continued

"And then what?" Raven questioned

"Even if we knew it wouldn't matter. This is Slade's past and our future is his present. The problems of the present can not be solved in the past, nothing will change." She continued

"What about Warp's time travel thing?" Beast Boy asked

"It's in the evidence room. We could go to the future and defeat Slade before he ever comes back or we could send a message into the future" the green teenager suggested but Starfire shook her head.

"I have visited the future once before, a person journeying from the past may cause things to change due to their being absent for all of the years in which they pass" the alien explained and it took the others a minute or two to fully understand the logic behind what she was saying.

"Besides our knowledge of the truth will stay with us throughout our lives. We should've already stopped him from coming back" Raven added in

"Ugh this time travel stuff is making my head hurt" Beast Boy complained

"What if we make it so he can't come back in the first place?" Cyborg suggested, the others all turned their attention to him.

"BB's right, Warp's little time machine is in the evidence room, i bet that's how he got here, if we destroy it he can't come back at all" The metallic teen explained and watched as his teammates, and Terra, thought over his theory.

"That may prevent Slade from traveling into the past but it will not prevent Robin from growing to become him" Starfire said sadly

"Starfire's right. If we're going to stop Slade then we need to find what made him this way" Terra agreed but Raven frowned

"I already told you, the problems of the future can not be solved in the past" the empath repeated.

"But the past can be used for guidance" Terra stated

"Take it from me, losing your memory is the only way to completely forget who you used to be and based on all of the cryptic clues to his identity Slade remembers. The Robin we know today is in there, somewhere, if we can reach him maybe we can save him" she continued and Beast Boy grinned.

"We? Does this mean you want to be a titan again?" He asked hopefully.

Terra hesitated for a moment, everyone, including Raven, was watching expectantly as she carefully thought it through.

"If you'll take me back" she finally answered and the next thing she knew she was being smothered by one of Beast Boy's overly enthusiastic hugs.


	5. Chapter 5

Raven was up on the roof meditating after Terra left, she had to leave before Robin returned. There was so much Raven was unsure of right now that she wondered how long she would be up here. It just didn't make any sense, Robin is her friend and if you asked her she would go so far as to call him her brother, even more so than her biological brothers. Her biological brothers were only half brothers, Trigon's children from the other realms he had conquered. Raven didn't know much about them, she had never met a single one. She knew she was the youngest and only girl, from information she had gathered when she was younger she figured she had six brothers and she was pretty sure one of them was dead, it may sound cruel but she felt next to nothing over his loss.

But losing Robin would be a different story.

Robin was more of a brother to her than any of her biological brothers. He and Cyborg both. Cyborg had been the first person to ever say that she "fit in just fine", he and Robin had taken her in. Robin could sense when something wasn't right with her, and she believed he was the only person who could really tell. Of course he never checked on her after she walked off to be alone but she had learned long ago that no one ever would, the fact that he cared enough to see something was wrong was enough for her.

She couldn't lose him.

Suddenly she heard the door to the roof creak open so she opened one eye, waiting for whoever was behind her to speak up.

"Hey Raven. Um i, i know you don't really like to be bothered when you're meditating but, but…" Beast Boy's nervous voice began to stutter and Raven sighed.

"Spit it out Beast Boy" she said, her monotoned voice not wavering an inch.

But the nerves drained from Beast Boy as he approached his friend who sat cross legged in midair.

"Rae, what's gonna happen to us?" The green teen asked and Raven looked down at his unusually serious face, for the second time that day.

"What do you mean?" She asked him and he sat down on the edge of the roof with a sigh.

"I mean you were right earlier. The future us should've already stopped Slade, but we didn't. Do you think something's gonna happen to us?" He asked.

Raven frowned as she considered it, she hated to admit it but that sounds like something that would turn Robin into Slade. Slowly she floated down to the surface of the roof and dangled her legs over the edge just as Beast Boy was doing.

"Starfire's seen twenty years into the future. Assuming Nightwing will still come to be that means we have at least twenty-one years until Slade does. A lot can happen in that time" Raven said although she didn't think it helped at all.

Beast Boy nodded solemnly as he pulled his knees to his chest.

"I just wonder what was supposed to happen to us" Raven said and Beast Boy looked at her with slight confusion.

"What do you mean WAS?" He questioned

"I mean Slade is from the future. He isn't supposed to be here. We're living in a changed timeline, what was originally supposed to happen?" Raven questioned and after giving it a moment of thought Beast Boy shrugged.

"Don't know. Robin never would've worked for him, maybe Terra wouldn't have turned evil, Robin never would've gone crazy for a weekend…" Beast Boy trailed off and the two of them were again silent, each lost in their own ideas of what the past year and few months could've been like had Slade not shown up.

"But without Slade, we might have never found you" he said and Raven turned to face him, her expression showing that she did not understand.

"When your dad took over, Slade was the one who showed Robin where to find you. Without him we never would've known where to look and we'd probably all be dead" Beast Boy clarified.

That was another thing. Robin had literally walked through hell and back to save Raven, how could someone who cared so much for his teammates turn so bad?

* * *

><p>"Anyone seen Beast Boy?" Robin questioned upon seeing the dirty dishes still stacked up in the sink, it was Beast Boy's turn to do dishes and as usual they were yet to be done.<p>

"I saw him go up to the roof a few minutes ago" Cyborg called from the couch.

Robin raised an eyebrow

"I thought you said Raven was meditating up there?" He asked

Cyborg only shrugged

"That's what she said she was doing, guess BB didn't hear her" The half robot said with little to no interest. If Beast Boy wants to risk his neck by interrupting Raven then let him.

Robin however was growing more and more suspicious of his teammates. First they sent him out of the house this morning to get some things at the store, even though it was Raven's week to worry about the shopping and she had gotten everything on the list yesterday. Then Beast Boy sounded nervous all through supper last night and was now up on the roof with Raven of all people. Not to mention Starfire had hardly spoken to him since yesterday morning.

_Did i do something wrong? _Robin thought to himself, trying to figure out what he could've done in order to upset his girlfriend.

His thoughts, however, were cut short by the blaring of the alarm. Instantly Cyborg pulled up the map of the city on the monitor.

"There's a robbery downtown" Cyborg shouted as Robin joined him in front of the screen and the other three titans entered the room.

"Titans go!" Robin ordered as he and Cyborg turned and ran no sooner than the other three processed what was going on.

* * *

><p>Downtown the titans appeared on the scene of the local computer store being robbed, and all but Robin froze when they saw that the robbers were none other than three of Slade's robots. None of the other titans heard it when Robin made one of his terrible puns and they only snapped back to reality when he began shouting for them to fight.<p>

"Come on" Raven said about to charge into battle, where Robin was already fighting with Cyborg joining him.

"But what about-" Starfire began but Raven cut her off

"It's a robot Star, and Slade is still our enemy" she reminded the alien princess who looked somewhat hurt but understood.

Even if Slade was Robin come from the future he is still their enemy, she still needed to fight.

The other titans joined the fight and it wasn't long before Cyborg noticed on of the robots getting away.

"Oh no you don't!" He shouted as he took off after the robot.

He chased him, his heavy metallic feet thumping quickly and loudly against the pavement of the ground as he ran. The robot turned swiftly down an alley and Cyborg pursued without a second thought.

"Ha, got'cha now" Cyborg triumphantly said as he aimed his sonic canon at the robot.

But before he could fire a figure emerged from the dark shadow of the alley.

"Careful Cyborg, i know how much you hate destroying machines" Slade's smooth voice came and Cyborg growled, aiming his canon at the man and ignoring his comment.

"Cyborg i know you know who i am" Slade said but Cyborg only continued to sneer and so Slade chuckled.

"Go ahead old friend, shoot me" the man behind the mask challenged as he moved closer to the cybernetic teen who was currently pointing a weapon at him, he knew he wouldn't shoot.

"You think you can take me down, you think that knowing my identity gives you an advantage" Slade said, now standing right in front of Cyborg he pushed the weapon down.

"But you forget Cyborg I've already lived through these days, i already know what's going to happen" Slade said and Cyborg looked up at him, gritting his teeth.

"You're changing things Slade, you know just as much as i do" Cyborg said to him but secretly he wondered if he were wrong, after all how could Slade know he has him figured out?

"My past has changed Cyborg, i remember everything about my past" He said and without another word he took a laser gun off his belt and blasted his own robot to pieces. He then shoved Cyborg to the ground and hurried to the pile of robotic scrap, took what the robot had stolen, and looked back.

"See you later old friend" he said before vanishing around the corner of the alley.

* * *

><p>"So what now?" Terra questioned after hearing what happened earlier with the robbery.<p>

After Slade got away Robin had opted to spend the night on a solo patrol and so the second he left Beast Boy called Terra to come over, of course her 'parents' are under the impression that she went to her friend Amber's house.

"Well if Slade knows we know, you can stop working undercover" Beast Boy suggested hopefully as he took a bite of his vegetarian pizza.

Terra sighed but she didn't get a chance to answer before a loud smashing sound was heard from down the hall.

* * *

><p>By the time Beast Boy and Terra reached the doorway of Cyborgs bedroom Starfire was already there, examining the large metal door lying on the hallway floor, a huge fist mark right in it's center.<p>

"What happened?" Raven questioned as she joined the group, coming flying from her own bedroom down the hall.

They all turned their heads to look at Cyborg, Terra and Beast Boy backed up to allow the metal teen into the hallway but he stayed in his doorway and only tossed what looked to be a computer chip on top of the crippled door.

"Slade brought his robots with him from the future" Cyborg stated seriously

"So?" Terra asked as she picked up the chip and examined it, not that she had a clue as to what it was she was looking at.

"I recognize that technology, guess it won't change much between now and Slade's time" Cyborg began to explain.

"Shouldn't that be a good a thing?" Raven questioned as she tried to understand what had Cyborg so upset, if he could understand the technology then won't that help them?

"It should, but the reason i recognize it is because i made it. I made those things" Cyborg shamefully admitted.


	6. Chapter 6

The hallway became dead silent. No one moved and no one said anything. A future where Robin is evil is bad enough but Cyborg?

"Cyborg, if you promise to never create these robots for Slade-" Starfire began from where she knelt beside the broken door but Cyborg cut her off.

"It's not that simple Star" he said holding up a hand, signaling her not to speak as he was going to continue. "During the fight today Slade told me that his past has changed, but he remembers everything about it. The problem is that most of his past is still our future, he still knows a lot that we don't" Cyborg explained bitterly.

How could this happen?

It couldn't be true, he couldn't turn evil. His accident had shaken him to his core, it had taken his absolute darkest thoughts and brought them to light. Yet he stayed true to his good nature, to who he really was.

What could be so powerful that it could turn him, could break him?

Raven nodded as she lowered her hood

"You're right" she said as all eyes turned to her "Slade came back for a reason and no matter how hard we try we won't know what it is until it's too late" she continued.

"So what? We just let Robin and possibly Cyborg become criminals?" Terra questioned, placing her hands on her hips and narrowing her eyes.

Raven narrowed her own eyes in response, if Terra thought that the empath was seriously going to just sit back and watch her brothers turn against the rest of their little family then she has another thing coming.

"No we need to take the fight to Slade. We need to get him to tell us what happened, and then maybe we can help him" she further explained.

Terra's stern look faltered when she realized that her and Raven were indeed on the same page.

"Guys, what's going on?" The voice of a very confused Robin came asking.

All five titans, or four titans and Terra as Robin knew it, immediately focused their attention on the end of the hallway where their leader was making his way towards the group.

"Well now we know how he found out we know" Beast Boy commented.

* * *

><p>It was well past midnight when the doors to the common room swished open, however the room's only occupant refused to turn around and acknowledge the noise.<p>

"Robin, the future is not set in stone. It can be changed" Starfire's hopeful and reassuring voice came as she made her way closer to the couch.

Robin, however, continued to sit hunched over. Arms resting on his knees and eyes staring absently at the ground as if he were in a trance. After he discovered his team crowded around Cyborg's broken door in the hallway, after he discovered Terra in the tower, they had told him everything.

He was Slade.

All this time he had been fighting an older version of himself, and he should've seen it coming.

They were alike, it had been pointed out to him time and time again how alike they are. Slade had let him live, twice, when he should have died. Having been Slade's apprentice how could the Boy Wonder not have realized that the hideout was a clock? How could he not have seen that Slade's fighting techniques were identical to his own?

How could he have been so blind?

"How could i not recognize myself?" Robin asked his thoughts aloud, there are a million and one things in which he wanted to say but for now he settled on that.

Starfire's breath was caught in her throat as she stood behind the couch, one hand half outstretched as she hesitated to place it on her boyfriend's shoulder. Robin had said he would be going in a minute when they had all simultaneously left the common room for bed hours before, but Starfire knew he wouldn't. She crawled into her bed around ten o'clock, and had done nothing but lay there awake listening for Robin's footsteps in the hallway. After an hour she considered getting up to check on Robin and had spent the next hour preparing herself for every situation she might stumble upon. She was prepared to face her boyfriend enraged, prepared to face him in denial, prepared to face him in a state of hopelessness.

But she wasn't prepared for this.

Be it good or bad Robin always wanted to take action, and Starfire had expected that he may have been not in the common room but halfway to Slade's old hideout looking to kill the man if he did not give any real answers.

But instead he was sitting on the edge of the couch, trying to understand not how his future would come to be, but how he did not suspect it.

"Robin" she said gently as she finally placed her hand on his shoulder, she didn't know what to say but she had to reassure him that she was there, she just had to.

Robin gave her a sideways glance, as if he were only acknowledging her touch.

Never letting her hand leave her boyfriend's shoulder Starfire came around and took a seat next to him, only then did she move her hand away and instead used it to grasp Robin's own hand.

"Slade's still here, and as long as he is then the future still stands" Robin said sadly, Starfire sighed upon hearing him so broken inside.

"Perhaps we do not understand. Perhaps things are not as they appear" the tamaranian suggested, her voice indicating that she wasn't too sure if she believed her words or not.

"What's not to understand?" Robin questioned, at last lifting his head but still refusing to meet his girlfriend's eyes.

Starfire said nothing, instead she brought her legs onto the couch and kneeled on a comfortable angle as she placed her other hand over Robin's and her own then lay her head on Robin's shoulder.

"I do not know" she finally said.


	7. Chapter 7

"Ava" Mrs. Carleton scolded as she snapped a daydreaming Terra out of her thoughts during History class.

"Huh? Oh, sorry" Terra said, her face turning a bright red color with the feeling of embarrassment.

Slowly Terra felt the eyes of everyone else in the class turn their attention away from her and she returned to her own thoughts just as slowly. She had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at Mrs. Carleton, she always paid attention in class, was mostly an A student and usually participated. Why couldn't the woman just give her a break and not call her out on it the one day she was preoccupied?

Sighing she continued to block out the lesson and focus on the events of the past few days.

Her life was a lie.

Her parents weren't her parents and if Slade really knows then why is she still here?

She's still here, still walking around a normal high school, amongst normal people, and pretending to be the made up girl Ava Rogers.

But why?

Why was Slade letting her stay in this normal life? Why are her 'parents' still pretending?

_Maybe they'll be gone when i get back ho-to the house. To the house. _Terra thought to herself, quickly stopping herself from referring to it as home.

Was it a joke? Was this Slade's plan? To let her go on living a 'normal' life like he has no idea she knows until the guilt of her past, or her fear of her future, eats her alive?

She wondered this to herself as the bell rang, momentarily bringing her back to reality, only for her to fall back into her thoughts as she walked from the classroom to her locker.

_I mean Slade's just waiting for the right moment to destroy me, or he's waiting for me to destroy myself, but either way i should get out of here_

She continued to think like this, to mentally list all the reasons to run away. But still Terra could not bring herself to decide on running away.

Why was that?

She had run away all her life, ever since she got her powers she had been doing nothing besides running away, and now that they were active again she should be living in absolute terror of herself once more.

But she isn't.

She has control, she hates that Slade was the one to give it to her but she has it nothing less. But it's more than that, she doesn't want to run away. Opening her locker, correction; opening Ava's locker, Terra realized that as Ava she had been happy. Ava had father who loved her, a stepmother who at least cared about her, friends who she hadn't betrayed and most of all Ava didn't have any powers.

"But it was all a lie" Terra reminded herself upon looking into the small mirror on the inside of the locker door.

Moving a piece of hair out of her face and behind her ear Terra was about to shut the locker when instead she closed her eyes tightly.

"No" she said to herself before opening her eyes and staring back into the locker

"No more running" she promised.

* * *

><p>"Just to be clear, Slade will sense me the second i enter his mind. If we're doing this, we won't take him by surprise" Raven warned.<p>

The titans were sitting around the common room. Cyborg hadn't spoken since last night, he didn't even say anything when Beast Boy gave him the soy milk for his cereal.

"He knows everything that's going to happen, it's not like we could take him by surprise if we tried" Robin mused quietly to himself before lifting his head to properly address Raven. "Just be careful and i don't know what you'll find in Slade's mind but i'm willing to be you won't like what you see" the leader warned, Raven nodded.

"I don't intend to look around more than necessary" the empath assured before she began to float in her mediative position.

"Azarath.. Mentrion… Zinthos" she chanted in a breathy rasp of a voice. At the end of her mantra her eyes opened and glowed white and the black shadow of a raven flew from her body.

There was silence from the other four before finally Cyborg spoke up for the first time that day

"She might be gone for awhile, BB watch over her body. Make sure nothing happens" the cybernetic teen instructed the green changeling who looked over his shoulder only to find Robin and Cyborg exiting the room.

"Where are you two going?" He asked

"I'm just heading to the bathroom" Robin answered before leaving Cyborg alone in the doorway.

"I'm going to my room" he said as he turned to go.

This left Beast Boy and Starfire alone on the couch while Raven's body floated in front of them, Beast Boy turned to Starfire.

"I've got to stay with Rae, maybe you should talk to Cyborg" he suggested as Starfire played with her hair

"I believe he wishes to be left alone" she said sadly, Beast Boy turned his gaze to Raven.

"Maybe but i'm not sure that's what he needs" the changeling stated.

* * *

><p>It only took Raven's soul a few minutes to locate Slade and even less time to enter his mind. Instantly she was faced with images, some she recognized and some she didn't, she tried not to pay much attention to the ones which she herself had no memory of. Suddenly, however, everything around her went dark.<p>

"Ah Raven, i've been expecting you. Although i must admit even when i'm expecting it i still can't get used to the feeling of you entering my mind" Slade's voice came in a smooth and confident wave of sound.

"Robin i'm here to help you, you weren't always like this, it's not too late" Raven tried to reason with the man who had once been, and to her currently is, her leader.

But Slade's voice came in a chuckle

"I'll admit that i've made some mistakes. Taking control of Jump City and using Terra in order to do it for example, but rest assured my business here in the past is taken care of. Yesterday's incident was simply to acquire something which i need in order to return to my time" he said but Raven growled.

"We'll stop you Slade. Even if i don't stop you today there's always tomorrow. I know who you are and when you get back i'll know" the empath threatened but Slade knew how empty, and ironic, that threat was.

"Believe me Raven everything will make sense one day but until then, here. This might save us both some trouble later on" Slade said and with that an image flashed through Raven's mind.

* * *

><p>Raven opened her eyes to find that she and Beast Boy were alone in the common room and as she lowered herself onto the ground he looked up from his video game.<p>

"Remind me to never let Robin leave you to watch over me again" Raven said in mild disappointment as her green teammate paused his game and put down his controller.

"Come on you know i'd protect you if something happened, what was i supposed to do? Just stare at you for twenty minutes?" He asked causing Raven to look at the clock with a frown

"I wasn't even gone for ten minutes" she said, sort of annoyed that he was so impatient but then again she supposed that it was better he had been playing his game, she wasn't sure how she would feel if she came back and he was, as he said, just staring at her.

"Anyway, did you get through to Slade or Robin i guess?" Beast Boy asked with the fear that Raven's mission hadn't been successful, he had been expecting she would be gone a lot longer.

"I'm not sure. He said that he's made mistakes and that he's going back to his time. He said that he's done in the past, whatever he was after he got it" Raven admitted, unsure of if she should be relieved or fearful. "Then he showed me an image, of the probes he put in us over a year ago" she explained and Beast Boy looked at her in confusion.

"I thought we got rid of those?" He asked

"So did i" Raven said.

* * *

><p>"Scan shows BB's all clear" Cyborg announced less than an hour later as Beast Boy sat in the common room, once again hooked up to the machine which checked for the microscopic probes and displayed his blood veins on the large television screen.<p>

"Then why did Slade show Raven the probes?" Robin wondered aloud and Cyborg turned to his 'sister'.

"He didn't say anything else?" He questioned, Raven crossed her arms

"I already told you, all he said was that everything will make sense one day and that the image he showed me might save us both some trouble" the empath repeated.

"Perhaps Slade has forgotten that we no longer contain his probes" Starfire suggested from her seat on the couch.

Before anyone could answer the elevator door opened and Terra walked into the common room, she gave the group a quizzical look the second she entered.

"Are you guys experimenting on Beast Boy?" She asked as she set her backpack down on the couch and Beast Boy frowned.

"When i went into Slade's mind he showed me a picture of the probes he used to have on us but as you can see they're no longer there. We're trying to figure out how it's important" Raven explained while Terra took a seat next to Starfire.

"Gross" she remarked but then took a closer look at the screen "wait where exactly were the probes?" She questioned.

"Um, in our blood, why?" Cyborg questioned as all five titans turned to Terra, her mind racing as she put the pieces together.

"On the red blood cells?" She questioned and Cyborg looked at her in slight surprise.

"Yeah, why?" He asked as Terra stood up and walked closer to the screen.

"Looks like school did me some good" she muttered under her breath "We just went over this in science class, red blood cells only live four months on average before they're replaced by new ones" she explained.

"Which means that after a few months the probes would've been dead" Cyborg concluded

"But that doesn't make sense, Slade said that the probes could go undetected for decades and i know myself, i know i wouldn't overlook a fact like that" Robin said and Terra nodded.

"Which means Slade only needed the probes for four months max, whatever he came back for it's already happened" Terra theorized and Raven gasped.

"The prophecy" she exclaimed in almost a whisper

"What?" Terra asked, completely lost.

But the other's paid no attention to Terra's confusion and Raven met Robin's gaze.

"My birthday, it passed just four months after you had worked for Slade" she said but Cyborg shook his head.

"Hang on, we beat your dad-" the robotic teenager began only to be cut off

"Because of Slade" Beast Boy interrupted, the others all turned to look at him as he finished disconnecting the last of the wires from himself.

"Don't you guys get it?" Beast Boy asked "We've been looking at this all wrong!" He continued "The only reason we beat Trigon was because Slade led us to Raven, that's why he came back"

"What about taking over the city? Before the prophecy?" Robin questioned but Beast Boy had it figured out, Slade isn't the enemy.

"Raven left us some of her power before becoming the portal, so that we could survive. But without Slade we never would've found her so when it happened the first time around, before Slade came back, we survived, but that was it. So after years of living in chaos Robin decided to come back in time and help change the future the only way he knew how, by training us, and became Slade. Cy built the robots to do Slade's dirty work as a villain, the probes and taking over the city were just challenges, Slade knew Terra wouldn't be able to kill us and that Robin wouldn't let him do it, even if he did have it in him. That's why, until yesterday, we didn't see Slade after the prophecy. His work is done, he's been trying to get home" Beast Boy explained.

The others all looked at him dumbfounded but his theory made perfect sense, no matter where they tried to find a hole in it.

"Oh i knew Robin and Cyborg would never betray us!" Starfire exclaimed, happily flying over and enveloping Robin into a bone crushing hug.

* * *

><p>"So now that the undercover stuff is all over and everything, are you going to be sticking around?" Beast Boy questioned Terra as the titan's small celebration of the revelation finished up and everyone began separating to their own activities.<p>

Raven was now in front of the windows meditating, Starfire and Robin had just finished cleaning the mess in the kitchen and had left the common room and Cyborg said that now that all this was over he needed to work on the T-car, as he left for the garage Terra grabbed her backpack.

"Sort of, i want to be a titan Beast Boy, i really do, but i can't run away anymore" she began to explain.

"Terra your parents aren't-" Beast Boy began but Terra cut him off.

"I know, believe me i've already left a note explaining that i know everything. I mean i can't run away from my powers anymore. I'll visit i promise and maybe someday i'll come back for good but for now, i need to go home" she explained, Beast Boy simply gave her a blank expression.

"Home as in…" he trailed off with his question.

"Home as in the place i ran away from when i got my powers" she explained and once again Beast Boy didn't say anything, just stared at the ground with a disappointed frown on his face.

Terra looked at him sympathetically "Beast Boy i haven't seen my family in six years, i have to go back. I have to" she explained and Beast Boy nodded as he dug through his pocket.

"I know, just stay in touch alright?" He asked of her as he once again held out the spare communicator.

With a smile Terra took the small yellow circle from her friend then hugged him. It felt good to have his arms around her again, the last time he had hugged her was right before she sacrificed herself.

"I will" she agreed before pulling away and standing up, she glanced over her shoulder to look at Raven.

"You know she cares a lot more than she lets on" she said before turning back to Beast Boy who nodded.

"Yeah" he agreed

"See you later" she said and then left the tower.

"Bye" Beast Boy said just as Terra stepped into the elevator.

Once she was gone Beast Boy turned to look at Raven.

She was a mystery which he thought would never be solved but maybe he was wrong; maybe Slade wasn't the only one who had been giving cryptic clues.

"How old were you?" He asked nervously

"What are you talking about?" She asked in annoyance

"When you started locking yourself away, when you shut yourself off, how old were you?" He asked again, being more specific this time.

"Beast Boy-" she began to say but she was cut off.

"You have to meditate, to control your powers. It would be so easy to just lock yourself in your room for that, or the roof, anywhere quiet. Sometimes you do but sometimes you're out here in the living room, or when we're all playing on the roof you sit off to the side to meditate. You like being around us, you want to be with everybody else, you want to open up but you don't know how." Beast Boy said sympathetically, figuring out most of this as he said it.

"Rae, you can feel. You've just forgotten how" he said in an almost pleading voice.

Raven opened her eyes slowly but still in surprise, she didn't think that anybody, especially Beast Boy, had picked up on her habits. The truth is that he's right, she did test her limits and try to be around the others as much as possible.

"Beast Boy i need to be in control of my emotions" she told him, still not meeting the gaze of the green boy behind her.

"That doesn't mean you have to lock them away… and you know it" he told her and before she could argue he continued. "You didn't know it when you started, i don't know how old you were considering you won't tell me but i'd bet you were little. You couldn't control your powers and you were scared, and the fear only made things worse. So you decided to stop feeling and now that you've realized it was a mistake, that it confined you to live like you're in a cage, you don't remember how to free yourself" he finished, getting nervous that he was dead wrong.

But with a sigh Raven descended onto the ground and turned around, but she only looked at her feet in shame.

"I was five" she confessed, Beast Boy nodded and as he placed a hand on her shoulder she looked up. He was looking into her eyes, waiting to see if she would tell him more, and with a shaky breath she did.

"I was about to turn five when my powers began to grow to powerful for me to control, so the monks locked me away." She began, suddenly looking angry and taking a deep breath to keep it under control. "I spent the first few months doing nothing but breaking out into fits of rage and sadness. I would cry, throw things and pound against the walls and floors for hours, but no one ever seemed to notice. After awhile i realized that if i wanted to get out i would have to control my powers so i decided not to feel, they let me go just after i turned six" she explained.

By now she was looking away from Beast Boy and after a minute he gently placed his knuckles under her chin and turned her face back to him.

"I'm sorry, but you're not alone anymore. I promise" he said and when she reacted by throwing her arms around his neck he didn't push her away like last time, no instead he wrapped his own arms tightly around her and refused to let her go.


End file.
